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Candidate debate has unfriendly end

11/24/02

By Bill Walsh Staff writer/The Times-Picayune

BATON ROUGE -- An already-bitter U.S. Senate campaign got personal Saturday afternoon at the conclusion of a taped debate between Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican state Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell.

After a tense 30-minute segment finished taping at WDSU's studios in New Orleans, the two candidates were preparing to leave. According to witnesses, Landrieu looked over her shoulder and told Terrell, "This is your last campaign."

A stunned Terrell replied, "She threatened me."

No other words passed between the two New Orleans women, but moderator Alec Gifford said Landrieu appeared peeved.

"She just kind of stalked out of the studio," Gifford said.

A Landrieu spokesman, Rich Masters, said the comment wasn't a threat, but a prediction that after running such a negative campaign, Terrell would no longer be viable as a candidate in Louisiana.

A Terrell spokesman said Terrell was shocked at what happened and saw it as a sign of Landrieu's desperation.

The bad blood has been a long time coming. During the primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee financed a bare-knuckled campaign against Landrieu, claiming she had turned her back on Louisiana.

In the runoff, Landrieu has begun to strike back. In a new television ad, she says Terrell favors tax relief only for the wealthy.

Gifford said the two barely looked at each other during the debate and that although the candidates shook hands, "It was very perfunctory."

The debate will air today at 10 a.m. and Thanksgiving Day at 4:30 p.m.

11/24/02

-- Anonymous, November 24, 2002

Answers

I doubt this will help Landrieu.

Jesse Jackson backs Landrieu for Senate

11/24/02

By Bill Walsh Staff writer/The Times-Picayune

BATON ROUGE -- Sen. Mary Landrieu, whose victory hopes hinge on being able to energize black voters, got a boost Saturday night from famed civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.

Jackson said Landrieu is the best U.S. Senate candidate to help improve the lot of poor people in Louisiana, one of the poorest states in the nation.

"If you are concerned about your economic interests, vote for Mary Landrieu," Jackson said at an impromptu news conference at the Sheraton Hotel.

Jackson was the keynote speaker at state Sen. Cleo Field's 40th birthday party, which doubled as a $250-a-plate Fields campaign fund-raiser in the hotel atrium next to the Argosy Casino.

The Landrieu camp said it had nothing to do with Jackson's appearance in Baton Rouge or his endorsement. But it could pay dividends for her Dec. 7 when black voter turnout will be critical to whether she can defeat Republican state Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell.

It's unclear how the endorsement from a liberal black civil rights leader will play with another critical voting bloc that Landrieu needs to win: moderate white Democrats.

Nonetheless, Jackson did his part to help endear her to black voters. He said that a "New South" is emerging in which old racial divisions are giving way to a more harmonious relationship between blacks and whites.

"Cleo Fields, (U.S. Rep.) Bill Jefferson (D-New-Orleans) and Mary Landrieu are all part of the New South," said Jackson, with Fields and Jefferson at his side.

Last week, Fields put aside a years-long feud with Landrieu to endorse her candidacy. That also is expected to encourage black voters in his home district of Baton Rouge to support her.

Even while endorsing her last week, Fields expressed his frustration at what he said was a habit of Southern white Democrats taking black voters for granted. Asked whether black people should consider that point of view when casting their votes, Jackson said it was time for unity.

"It is a concern," he said. But he quickly added, "When we vote together and vote in our economic interests, we win."

-- Anonymous, November 24, 2002